Improvement in earthen vessels for hermetical sealing purposes



E. BENNETT.

Fruit Jar.

Patented Dec. 2,1?1856.

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UNiTED STATES PATENT EEICE EDVIN BENNETT, OE BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN EARTHEN VESSELS FOR HERMETICAL SEALING PURPOSES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 16,139, dated DecemberI 2, 1556.

To all whom t may concern,.-

Be 1t known that I, EDWIN BENNETT, of

'the city and county of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented and made certain new and useful Improvements in Earthen Vessels for I-Iermetical Sealing for the Preservation of Fruits and other Articles, and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in whieh- Figure l is a perspective view of a smallsizc earthen jar with its lid or cover on. Eig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the jar without its top or lid. Fig. 3 is a sectional view ot' the top or lid. Fig. et is avcrtical view of the top or lid.

The nature of my improvements consistsin forming vessels of plastic earthen matter in such a manner that the surfaces and parts forming the grooves or sealing-channels are left of a biscuit or porous absorbent non-inetallic nature-that is, the plane surface I) b b and the receding edges c e c c of the rim or mouth of the vessel-and the beveled sloping edged d d and the plane surface e e ofthe cover or lid are left free of the glazing material in the act of being subjected to the last burning of the ware.

It is well known that numerous alleged improvements in preserving-jars and sealing of vessels have been from time to time presented to public consideration and practical test, but out of the number few,if any,have been found to answer the desired purpose without being subject to some objection. In most instances screw-tops and interposed disks of iibrous or elastic material have been required, and in such forms of construction and with such appliances the vessels become difficult of use,an d are complex and costly, and cannot be operated or managed without considerable trouble; and, again, the access to the interior part ol' the vessel is rendered dificult when screw caps or coverings are used, and where metal and earthen vessels are employed, formed with grooves or channels requiring a peculiar kind of composition for the adhering together lof the cap and body of the vessel, it has been found invariably necessary that such peculiar composition has to be applied while the vessel or jar isin'nnersedinhot water; and again,

too, in such instances much experience has developed the fact that after the composition is used once it cannot be employed a second or third time without being greatly, if notentirely,useless or unavailable; and, again, it is most frequently the case when such peculiar composition sealing matter is used that it drops into or enters the interior ofthe vessel, and thus the quality of the material tobe preserved is injured.

In my mode of constructing earthen jars or vessels of plastic matter for hermetical sealing, absorbent, porous, or biscuit surfaces are produced, and all that is requisite in the putting up, inclosing, and preserving of fruits, &c., is simply in combination with the biscuit or porous surfaces to employ the material of common beeswax, which is merely melted and poured around and in the gutter or channel c c e d (l cl, Fig. l, and this application of the wax is entirely without requiring the jar or vessel to be heated or immersed in hot water, for the unglazed, porous, or. biscuit surfaces absorb the melted wax, and thus securely seal -up the parts, rendering the interior of the vessel perfectly air-tight. Besides, too, in using the porous surfaces and the common material of beeswax the jar can be most readily opened by merely using a sharp-pointed instrument or knife and without requiring the.heating or immersing of the vessel in water; and another most important feature in my improvements is the wax can be made available and used over and over repeatedly without deing depreciated in utility or in undue quantity; and in using common beeswax there is but little danger of its spoiling or impairing the quality ot the article scaled should the wax get into the jar or vessel. So tenacious do the porous or biscuit surfaces become by the application of the beeswax that it requires an immense manual effort to separate the several parts,if the wax is not detached by being lifted through means of a pointed instrument.

I am fully aware that rims, ridges, grooves, or gutters, and also ground surfaces, have been employed, and also that in some kinds of jars or vessels formed from plastic material the lower surface of the lid and the upper surface of the vessel or jar have been left unglazed, and consequently I disclaim all such; but

Vhat I do claim as an improvement in the manufacture of earthen vessels, and desire to I bnatotfwth u vessel the contiguous surfaces secure by Letters Patent of the United States, b b 0 c of which are also left unglazed and in is an absorbent state, for the purpose set forth. Constructing` the covers or lids of such ves- EDWIN BENNETT. [L s] sels with the beveled or sloping edge d d and Vitnesses:

plane surfaces e e, unglazed 0r in the biscuit l SALM. L. SMITH,

JOHN F. ENNIs.

state, when said lid 0r cover is used in corn- 

